Understanding the Radio Manager Features

The Radio Manager provides these features:

•Rogue AP detection

The Radio Monitoring feature uses the radio measurement capabilities on Cisco IOS APs (1100, 1200) and Cisco client adaptors to discover any new 802.11 APs that are transmitting beacons. Both clients and APs periodically scan for other 802.11 beacon frames on both serving channels and neighboring channels. Reports of detected beacons are returned to the Radio Manager, which validates the detected beacons against a list of APs known to be authorized to provide wireless access.

A newly discovered AP that cannot be qualified as being a known authorized AP generates an administrator alert. You can categorize this new AP as one of the following AP types:

–Managed AP—An AP that is authorized to provide wireless access to the LAN and requires management services provided by the WLSE.

–Unmanaged AP—An AP that is authorized to provide wireless access to the LAN but does not require any management services from the WLSE.

–Friendly AP—An AP that is not connected to the LAN, but is known to be detectable by client's or AP's 802.11 radios within the managed WLAN. A Friendly AP is an AP that you know exists, for example, a neighboring network's AP, but that you are not going to modify in any way.

–Rogue AP—An AP that may or may not be connected to the LAN, is detected by client's or AP's 802.11 radios within the managed WLAN, and has not been identified as Friendly. By default, all unknown radios are classified as Rogue until you change them to Friendly.

•Interference detection

You can initiate interference detection when you activate Radio Monitoring. Only APs in the radio monitoring list participate in interference detection; clients can detect interference as well. You can define what level of signal strength and duration of signal is required to detect interference. When interference is determined to be present, an alert is generated.

•Automatic radio parameter generation

The Radio Manager can generate optimal values for the radio parameters of a given group of APs. Each set of radio parameters can modify the following:

–AP frequency

–AP transmit power

–AP beacon interval

When computing new radio configuration parameters, select any combination of parameters that may be altered. After the desired parameters are selected, the Radio Manager is given free reign to alter each parameter as it sees fit.

The Assisted Site Survey (see Using the Assisted Site Survey Wizard) can walk you through the process of determining the optimal radio transmit power and channel selection. It helps you select APs, run an AP radio scan job, perform a client walkabout, and generate radio parameters for the selected APs.

You can also choose to run these features manually. The following table summarizes which procedures produce the data required by the different Radio Manager features:

Feature

Run these procedures

Results are used in:

Rogue AP detection

Radio Monitoring

AP Radio Scan

Location Manager

Faults

Interference detection

Radio Monitoring

Faults

Automatic radio parameter generation

AP Radio Scan

Client Walkabout (recommended)

RM Assisted Configuration

Location Manager

Radio Manager Reports

The results produced by these features constitute the radio knowledge base. This knowledge base (see Figure 7-1) is saved in the WLSE database and accessed by other Radio Manager features.

Figure 7-1 Radio Data Collection and Knowledge Base

Several Radio Manager procedures are used solely to generate measurement requests and collect the results:

•Radio Monitoring periodically gathers radio frequency statistics and identifies specific signal sources. It continuously monitors the radio frequency environment and generates alerts when new APs appear.

Tip This feature is your primary means of detecting rogue APs.

•AP Radio Scan sets selected APs to transmit beacons on the same channel and detects all neighboring APs. This feature measures the path loss between each AP and every other AP it can hear and scans other channels to detect rogue APs.

Tip Run AP radio scans during initial setup, then periodically to capture any changes made to the APs (added, deleted, or moved).

•Client Walkabouts provide optimal coverage for the radio parameter generator (see Radio Management Assisted Configuration). During a walkabout, the client (typically a laptop) is carried throughout the desired coverage area and continuously reports radio measurements back to its serving AP.

Tip If you do not perform a client walkabout, you must enter a floor plan that includes the distances between APs (see Adding Building Information).

Radio Monitoring

Radio Monitoring runs on the specified Cisco IOS APs and its associated CCX-compliant clients to continuously monitor the WLAN radio environment and discover any new APs that are transmitting beacons. The channel measurements are used for radio configuration, rogue AP discovery, and interference detection.

•Specify the group of APs and clients to perform the channel measurements

Tip Leave Radio Monitor continuously running on your network so new APs are discovered promptly, the necessary faults are generated, and your reports are accurate and up-to-date.

An AP can be added to the Radio Monitoring list and also be included on an AP Radio Scan or Client Walkabout; the measurement requests for these two features supersede the monitoring measurement requests. When the other, shorter term procedures end, the APs are returned to the normal radio monitoring mode.

Step 3 For Serving Channel Monitoring, select one or both of the following check boxes for measurements on the channel the devices are configured to:

•APs to perform monitoring measurements on the Cisco IOS APs on the serving channel.

•Clients to perform monitoring measurements on CCX-compliant clients on the serving channel.

Step 4 For Non-Serving Channel Monitoring, select one or both of the following check boxes to measure other channels in the band:

•APs to perform monitoring measurements on the Cisco IOS APs on the non-serving channels.

•Clients to perform monitoring measurements on CCX-compliant clients on the non-serving channels.

Note Non-serving channel monitoring means that the channels the AP is not transmitting on are monitored. By monitoring non-serving channels, Radio Manager can detect rogue APs that you might not have discovered had it monitored only the channel the AP is transmitting on (the serving channel).

Step 5 Click Select AP. All managed devices are listed in the Device selector in the middle pane.

AP Radio Scan

Note The Assisted Site Survey wizard can walk you through the process of determining the optimal radio transmit power and channel selection. It helps you select APs, run an AP radio scan job, perform a client walkabout, and generate radio parameters for the selected APs. See Using the Assisted Site Survey Wizard.

Understanding AP Radio Scans

AP radio scans produce path loss data used for rogue location estimations, radio parameter generation data, and coverage display data. This data is used to determine:

•How an AP is positioned related to other APs

•The amount of path loss due to obstructions (such as walls) between APs

These channel measurements, when combined with other data generated by Radio Monitoring and Client Walkabout, are used for radio configuration, rogue AP discovery, and interference detection.

The AP Radio Scan option allows you to:

•Specify a group of APs that will participate in the scan procedure.

•Change the maximum transmit power level.

•Schedule the new job to run immediately or at a certain date and time. You can also specify whether this job will run only once or periodically.

During the scanning process, an AP radio scan performs the following tasks:

1. Sets the selected APs to the same channel at maximum power.

During a scan, AP frequencies and power levels are temporarily changed but no data rates are modified. For each AP, the channel is fixed and the procedure steps through the power levels up to the maximum transmit power level you have specified.

The radio scan uses temporary configuration parameters so the AP can revert back to its normally configured parameters if the AP is reset or loses connection with the WLSE during the procedure.

2. Measures the signal strength of each AP.

3. Calculates the path loss of each AP.

4. Steps through the power levels to determine the power step calibration of each AP.

3. Schedule the Job

When scheduling an AP radio scan job, you can select Run Now to start the job immediately, or you can schedule the job for a future date and time. You can also save a job without scheduling it, then edit the job later to add the scheduling information.

Step 2 From the Job State list, select the type of job you want to view.

Step 3 Click Refresh. The screen shows an updated list of the currently displayed jobs.

Client Walkabout

Client Walkabout measurements are used to determine AP coverage. This data is used to provide optimal coverage for the radio parameter generator.

Note The Assisted Site Survey wizard can walk you through the process of determining the optimal radio transmit power and channel selection. It helps you select APs, run an AP radio scan job, perform a client walkabout, and generate radio parameters for the selected APs. See Using the Assisted Site Survey Wizard.

Understanding Client Walkabouts

The Client Walkabout option allows you to:

•Specify a group of APs that will participate in the walkabout.

•Specify the maximum transmit power level.

During a client walkabout, up to five client stations, each identified by its 802.11 MAC address, are walked around the coverage area of the WLAN or a portion of the WLAN. The APs are set to the same channel and the transmit power in the APs is increased so that the power required to cover the edges of the WLAN can be determined.

A client walkabout station continuously reports radio measurements back to its serving AP as it roams throughout the coverage area. All measurements are passed to the Radio Manager, which incorporates them into its radio environment database.

Note If you choose not to perform a client walkabout, you must enter a floor plan that includes the distances between APs (see Adding Floor Information).

Client Walkabout Guidelines

Although there is no limit to the number of APs that may participate in a walkabout and no performance impact when you include a large number of APs, the total number of data points collected during a walkabout session does affect the processing time of RM Assisted Configuration—the larger the data set, the longer it takes to calculate the parameters.

To minimize the time it takes to calculate the radio parameters, try to use these guidelines when performing the walkabout:

•Walk around the proximity of each AP for which you want coverage for approximately 2 minutes. At a rate of capturing one walkabout location every 10 seconds, this will yield about 12 walkabout locations over a 2-minute period. For a floor that contains 10 APs, this translates to a 20-minute walkabout that covers the perimeter of the floor as well as the areas between different APs.

•If you use the Location Manager's RM Assisted Wizard (see Using the Assisted Site Survey Wizard), you can also see the walkabout results in a table that includes each AP and the number of walkabout locations that can hear that AP. If a location can hear multiple APs, it will be counted multiple times, once per AP. Therefore, the sum of the total location numbers across all selected APs may be (and almost always is) larger than the total number of actual walkabout locations.

•You can run RM Assisted Configuration either on a per-building or per-floor basis. You will usually get better channel combinations if you run RM Assisted Configuration for an entire building.

A longer walkabout will generate more location data. Although collecting more location samples can improve the parameter generation results, it will also increase the number of computations. For a floor consisting of the 10 APs described above, a WLSE1105 will take 10 to 12 minutes or less to complete the parameter generation process—without other jobs, such as inventory, configuration, discovery, or another Radio Manager task running simultaneously.

Note Because the WLSE1130 is a higher performance product, its parameter generation speed will be significantly better than a WLSE1105.

4. Enter Walkabout Options

During a walkabout, the transmit power in the APs is increased so that the power required to cover the edges of the WLAN can be determined. Use this option to reset the maximum transmit power level used by the APs.

Procedure

Step 1 Click Options.

Step 2 Select the AP power setting.

By default, the power level is set to the maximum value allowed on the AP or the maximum allowed by the regulatory domain. You might choose to enter a lower power setting when, for example, the default power level might affect a neighboring network.

Running the Walkabout

When you start a client walkabout, the walkabout session starts immediately and continues until you stop the procedure. Only one client walkabout session can be active at any time.

Note The Client Walkabout feature temporarily degrades wireless LAN service, which might affect client associations. You should run a walkabout session during off-hours to minimize any disruptions to the network.

The value of the AP power setting. This field is populated only if you entered a value in Use No More Than __ mW (see 4. Enter Walkabout Options).

Selected APs

Names of the AP devices selected for the walkabout.

Client MAC Address

The list of client MAC addresses to be used during the walkabout.

Status

The status of the walkabout.

Last Run Started

The time the last run of this client walkabout was started.

Last Run Stopped

The time the last run of this client walkabout was stopped.

Viewing AP Location Details

Use this option to view the AP locations collected during a client walkabout session.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Radio Manager > Client Walkabout.

Step 2 Select a walkabout, then click WalkaboutDetails.

Note AP location information is available only for the most recently completed walkabout. If a new walkabout session is in progress, this information is not available for the latest completed walkabout.

Step 2 From the Client Walkabout State list, select the type of walkabouts you want to view (Running or All).

Step 3 Click Refresh. The screen shows an updated list of the currently displayed walkabouts.

Location Manager

The Location Manager gives you a graphical view of the APs on each floor of your building(s). Location Manager also uses the radio monitoring channel measurements supplied by all managed devices and client stations to calculate the location of unknown APs in your network. It provides a location estimate using measurements from as few as one station, regardless of type. The accuracy of the measurements depends on the number of devices that the measuring entity can detect from the given location.

Location Manager supports up to 1,500 buildings per location with a maximum of 100 floors per building and a maximum of 100 APs per floor.

Understanding the Location Manager Window

In the upper left pane of the Location Manager window, you expand the All Locations folder to display the buildings and corresponding floors that you added.

Managed devices appear in the pane in the lower left pane of the Location Manager window. You need to initiate a discovery before they appear in this window. See Managing Device Discovery for more information.

The summary window in the right pane displays the number of APs in Managed state and Unmanaged state. You can double-click on the name of an AP to center the AP in the display of the floor map. For more information about adding devices to the floor map, see Adding Devices to the Floor Map.

In addition, the All Locations Summary also gives you the number of

•Access Points in Managed State—The number of managed APs

•Access Points in Unmanaged State—The number of unmanaged APs

•Active Alarm Counts—The number of major and minor alarms currently in your network.

Step 3 Drag your mouse to the desired location. You'll see the measurement display as you're dragging the mouse.

Step 4 To end the measurement, lift your finger from the mouse.

Note If the Distance Measure Tool is enabled, the Edit Location tool is disabled automatically.

Using Location Manager Contrast Sliding Tool

You can modify the background contrast in the image of your floor map by using the Location Manager Contrast sliding tool.

•To make the background image lighter, move the sliding bar to the left.

•To make the background image darker, move the sliding bar to the right.

Using Location Manager Channel Color Key

Each AP on your floor map has a color associated with it. The color indicates the channel the AP is transmitting on. To verify which color corresponds with which channel, click on the Channel Color Key icon or select Help > Channel Color Key. The Channel Color Key legend appears showing you which color represents which channel.

Using Location Manager Radio Location Color Key

The Location Manager Unknown Radio Location Color Key shows you the possible location of an unknown radio. The color gradations correspond to the percentage of probability that the unknown radio exists in the specified region. Click on the Unknown Radio Location Color Key, located next to the Channel Color Key, or select Help > Unknown Radio Location Color Key to view this information.

Zooming In and Out

When using Location Manager, you might need to zoom in and out to see APs displayed on the floor map. You can zoom in and out by selecting a radio button to the left of your floor image. There are 7 radio buttons that correspond to the following zoom levels:

•32 pixels per foot

•16 pixels per foot

•8 pixels per foot

•4 pixels per foot

•3 pixels per foot

•2 pixels per foot

•1 pixel per foot

To return to the normal view, select the fourth radio button (4 pixels per foot) in the list.

Obtaining Server Information

Verifying Server Status

You can verify the status of your server by selecting Server > Status. The Server Status window appears displaying the IP address of the server and the time the server was started. The Server status form also displays the following information:

Displaying Channel Frequency

To display the channel frequency of the APs on the floor map, select Display > Channel Frequency.

The floor map refreshes to show the channel frequency of each AP. The color of the channel frequency number corresponds to the channel. For more information about the colors and what they mean, see Using Location Manager Channel Color Key.

Displaying Transmit Power

To display the transmit power of the APs on the floor map, select Display > Transmit Power.

The floor map refreshes to show the transmit power (in mW) of each AP.

Displaying Data Rate

To display the highest basic rate set of the APs on the floor map, select Display > Data Rate.

The floor map refreshes to show the data rate (in Mbps) of each AP.

Displaying Coverage

To display a graphic representation of the transmit coverage of the APs on the floor map, select Display > Coverage Display.

Displaying RSSI from Selected AP

To display a numeric value of the received signal strength on the floor map, select Display > Show RSSI from Selected AP.

The floor map refreshes to show the received signal strength of each AP.

Modifying AP Coverage Display Options

You can modify how the coverage of each AP is displayed in the floor map.

Procedure

Step 1 Next to the Coverage Display pulldown, click Options. The Coverage Display Options form appears.

Step 2 Select a value in the Display Signal Strength Threshold pulldown. The default is 80% (-55dBm), which means that the coverage area displayed on floor map encompasses the area in which the AP signal stretch is at 80% (-55dBm) of its threshold.

You can select a different signal strength threshold, which will change the coverage area displayed on the floor map. If, for example, you select 20% (-85dBm) in the Display Signal Strength Threshold field, the coverage area around the AP will increase because it indicates the area in which the AP signal strength is at 20% (or -85dBm) or more of its threshold.

Step 3 Change the display coloring method by choosing one of these options:

•Use Gradient Color (default)—Uses one color with varying degrees of darkness based on the receiving signal range

•Use Solid Color—Uses one color with the boundary drawn within the range of the signal strength threshold you selected

Step 4 Change the Calculation Grid Size by clicking on a value in the pulldown menu. Changing the size to a larger value, for example 8ft., gives you a more general coverage that is not as granular as if you had picked a smaller value, for example 2 ft. The smaller the value you choose, the more time it will take for the floor map to refresh because it will display a more specific coverage area.

Step 5 Click Apply. The floor map refreshes to show the display options you selected.

Adding Building Information

When you start Location Manager, the first thing you need to do is add information about your building(s) and its floor(s).

Procedure

Step 1 Select Radio Manager > Location Manager. A page appears telling you about the necessary Java plug-in version required to use Location Manager, and it displays the Java version you are currently running.

Step 2 When you are sure you are running the correct version of the Java plug-in, click Launch to start Location Manager. The Location Manager window opens.

Step 3 The first time you launch Location Manager, a dialog box appears saying that no building or floor information was found. It asks if you want to add a new building.

Step 4 Click Yes.

On subsequent launches, the buildings, corresponding floors, and relevant devices appear under All Locations.

Step 5 The Building Tool opens displaying the Create Building Information form. Enter information about the building.

The following table shows the character limits for each field on the Create Building Information form:

Importing an Image of the Building

To use Location Manager, you need an image (.gif, .jpg, .jpeg, or .png) of the layout of your building. You can import this image into the Location Manager by following these steps.

Note The image filename cannot have any spaces in it. If your image filename has a space in it, rename the file before uploading it.

Note If you import an image at the building level (not a floor), that image is the default for all floors in the building.

Procedure

Step 1 In the Location Manager window, right click on a building or floor name and select Edit Building (or Edit Floor if you right-clicked on a floor). The Building Tool opens with the Create Floor Information form.

Step 5 Click Select on the Select Image file window. The image is uploaded. You'll see the name of your image file in the Default Floor Map Image field on the Building Tool window, and your image file should appear in the Map Image Preview field.

Step 6 On the Map Image preview, drag the red rectangle to cover just the edges of your building, or if desired, drag the rectangle over just a portion of your building. This is particularly important if your image has white space around the building because it helps Location Manager more accurately determine the location of any interferers.

Adding Floor Information

After importing an image file of your building, you need to specify the dimensions of the floor(s) so that Location Manager knows the scale of the image you imported and can more accurately report the location of any interferers. When you first import an image file into Location Manager, the floor dimensions are the pixel size of the imported image.

Note The image filename cannot have any spaces in it. If your image filename has a space in it, rename the file before uploading it.

Note If you previously imported an image to your building, that image is the default for all floors in the building. To upload a new image for the floor, import a new image.

Step 3 Select whether the measurement is in feet or meters using the pull-down menu, and then enter the dimensions of your floor in the Floor Dimensions field.

Step 4 On the Map Image preview, drag the red rectangle to cover just the edges of your floor, or if desired, drag the rectangle over just a portion of your floor, for example, a conference room. This is particularly important if your image has white space around the building or conference room because it helps Location Manager more accurately determine the location of any interferers.

When You Don't Know Floor Dimensions

If you don't know the dimensions of the floor, you can add dimension information to Location Manager using:

•The dimensions of a smaller area, for example, a conference room.

•The distance between two points, for example, two devices.

Procedure

Step 1 If you know the dimensions of a portion of the floor (or the distance between two devices), in the Building Tool, enter that measurement (or the distance between the two devices) in the Floor Dimension field. To improve accuracy, specify a measurement for the largest area possible.

Step 2 On the imported image map, drag the red rectangles to cover just the area that you specified the dimensions for. Or if using the distance between two devices, put two corners of the rectangle at each AP location.

Adding Devices to the Floor Map

After you add a new building and new floor and import an image map, you can place the devices on the floor map for each floor.

You need to initiate a discovery before you can add them to a building or floor. See Managing Device Discovery for more information.

Procedure

Step 1 From the list of devices in the bottom left window of Location Manager, click on a device name and drag it to its approximate location on the image of the floor map.

You do not need to place the devices in the exact location on the image map, but the closer the device on the map matches its location on the floor, the more accurately Location Manager will be when giving you information about unknown radios and interferers.

Step 2 Continue to drag and drop devices on to the floor map.

The floor map indicates the alarm status of each device:

•Red indicates the device has faults with major alarms.

•Yellow indicates the device has faults with minor alarms.

•Green indicates the device has no faults.

•Grey indicates the device is unmanaged.

You can right-click on any AP and select Device Details. A new browser opens displaying the AP Summary Report for the AP you selected.

If the device you selected does not have a building name listed in the Building field, the Location Estimation field indicates the estimated location as unknown.

Step 4 Click Change to Friendly (if you selected Rogue from the Unknown Radio Type pulldown) to change the status of the selected unknown radio from Rogue to Friendly.

If you selected Friendly from the Unknown Radio Type pulldown, you can click Change to Rogue to change the status of the selected unknown radio from Friendly to Rogue.

Step 5 Click Display Location to view the approximate location of the unknown radio on the building map. You'll see the possible location of the unknown radio shaded in color. The darkest shade indicates the most probable location.

Displaying Unknown Radios in the Floor Map

You can view the location of unknown radios in the Location Manager window by following these steps:

Procedure

Step 1 In the Location Manager window, select the unknown radio type that you want to view in the Unknown Radios pulldown menu. The pulldown menu might contain MAC addresses or IP addresses of devices in your network.

Note You might need to zoom out if you cannot see the possible location of the unknown radio in the Location Manager window. See Zooming In and Out.

Step 2 Click Options to modify the display options for the unknown radio. The default transmit power selected is 50mW and 100mW.

Step 3 Click on different transmit power options to increase the area on the floor map in which the unknown radio might be located. If you select all transmit powers, the floor map will display all possible areas that the unknown radio might be located.

Step 4 Select whether to use the Exclusion Algorithm. By default, the Exclusion Algorithm is selected so that, in its calculations, Location Manager includes the APs in the general area that did not detect the unknown radio. If you deselect the Exclusion Algorithm option, only the APs that detected the unknown radio are used in the location calculation.

Using the Assisted Site Survey Wizard

The Assisted Site Survey walks you through the process of determining the optimal radio transmit power and channel selection. It helps you select APs, run an AP radio scan job, perform a client walkabout, and generate radio parameters for the selected APs.

2. Viewing Radio Scan Data

After you selected the APs to participate in the assisted site survey, the wizard checks to see if there is any existing radio scan data for the APs you selected. If there is no previous scan data, the wizard asks you to run a new radio scan setup. In addition, the following information is displayed in the table:

Field

Description

Name

Name of the AP

IP Address

IP address of the AP

Last Scan Time

Time the most recent radio scan job started. If this field indicates None, you need to run a new radio scan.

Procedure

Step 1 Select one of the following options:

•Start new radio scan setup—The wizard starts a new radio scan job. Select this option if there is no previous radio scan date for the selected APs.

•Use old radio scan data—The wizard uses the data collected from the most recent radio scan job. Use this option if the number of neighbors is accurate.

Step 2 If you select to start a new radio scan setup, you need to specify the AP's maximum transmit power setting for the radio scan procedure. By default, the power level is set to the maximum value allowed on the AP. See Understanding AP Radio Scans.

Step 3 To start the new radio scan, click Start. You'll see informational messages appear in the text box and when the scan is complete, the form will display the following information:

3. Performing a Client Walkabout

Performing a Client Walkabout is an optional procedure in the Assisted Site Survey Wizard. If the APs you selected have data from a previous Client Walkabout session, this information is displayed in the wizard. For more information, see Understanding Client Walkabouts.

Procedure

Step 1 Select one of the following options:

•Start Client Walkabout Setup—The wizard walks you through the steps of setting up a Client Walkabout. See Client Walkabout Guidelines.

Step 2 If you select to start Client Walkabout Setup, you need to enter at least one client MAC address, and up to five addresses, that will move around during the walkabout.

Step 3 Select the AP power setting. By default, the power level is set to the maximum value allowed on the AP or the maximum allowed by the regulatory domain. You might choose to enter a lower power setting when, for example, the default power level might affect a neighboring network.

Step 4 Click Start to start the Client Walkabout. When the Client Walkabout is complete, click Stop and the following information is displayed:

4. Generating Radio Parameters

You need to set channel constraints and transmit power constraints for the APs you selected. The wizard can help you configure your APs by internally utilizing measurement data collected from a Client Walkabout and AP radio scanning. The wizard recommends optimal radio transmit power, channel selection, and beacon interval (optional), and then applies these configuration settings to the APs, if desired.

Tip To get optimal channel settings, run the radio parameter generation on a per building basis. That is, include all APs in one building in a single radio parameter generation job.

Procedure

Step 1 Click on one of the Constraints options:

•All APs—Applies the constraints to all APs you selected to participate in the site survey

•Individual AP—Allows you to specify constraints for individual APs.

Step 2 Enter a value in the Minimum and Maximum Transmit Power fields. By default, the transmit power is set to the maximum value allowed on the AP or the maximum allowed by the regulatory domain. You might choose to enter a lower power setting when, for example, the default power level might affect a neighboring network.

Step 3 Under Goal, enter a numerical value for the expected maximum number of clients per AP, and a numerical value for the expected average number of clients per AP.

Step 4 Select whether to enable black hole mitigation. If you select this option, Radio Manager recommends a beacon interval, which is slightly altered from what the AP is configured to, for the APs. If you do not select the Black Hole Mitigation option, Radio Manager will not recommend a beacon interval.

Step 5 Click Start to start the configuration parameter calculation. When the radio parameter generation is complete, a message appears at the bottom of the screen.

Step 6 Click Next to view the calculation results and apply the configuration to the APs.

Step 7 After reviewing the calculation results, click Apply Configuration to apply the configuration changes to the APs.

Note The configuration on your devices will not change unless you click Apply Configuration.

Note To view the changes from the Assisted Site Survey displayed graphically in Location Manager, in the Location Manager window, select View > Refresh Data.

Radio Management Assisted Configuration

RM Assisted Configuration can help you configure your APs by internally utilizing measurement data collected from a Client Walkabout and AP radio scanning. RM Assisted Configuration recommends optimal radio transmit power, channel selection, and beacon interval (optional), and then applies these configuration settings to the APs, if desired.

Tip To get optimal channel settings, run RM Assisted Configuration on a per building basis. That is, include all APs in one building in a single RM Assisted Configuration job.

Step 2 From the pulldown menu, select what type of configuration tasks you want to view:

•All—Lists all configuration tasks

•Planning—Lists configuration tasks who's constraints are still being calculated by the RM Assisted Configuration engine.

Note A configuration job stays in the Planning state if something disrupts the network, for example, a server crashes or is restarted.

•Unscheduled—Lists all configuration tasks that have not been scheduled

•Scheduled—Lists all configuration tasks that have been scheduled

•Completed—Lists all completed configuration tasks

The screen refreshes to show you details about the specified configuration tasks. You can sort the configuration tasks by name, status, next schedule, or owner by clicking on the corresponding column heading.

Copying Assisted Configuration Tasks

To create a new assisted configuration task that is similar to a previously created configuration task, you can make a copy of an existing configuration task and then make modifications to the copied task.

Refreshing the List of Configuration Tasks

If you made recent changes to configuration tasks, you can refresh the list of configuration tasks to make sure you're looking at the latest information. You might also need to refresh the configuration tasks if you have a configuration in the Planning state.

Creating a New Assisted Configuration Task

When you have a APs or a group of APs that you want to configure, you can use RM Assisted Configuration to configure the APs. Using AP Scan and Client Walkabout data, RM Assisted Configuration generates optimal values for the radio parameters of a given group of APs.

Tip To get optimal channel settings, run RM Assisted Configuration on a per building basis. That is, include all APs in one building in a single RM Assisted Configuration job.

Note The Assisted Site Survey wizard can walk you through the process of determining the optimal radio transmit power and channel selection. It helps you select APs, run an AP radio scan job, perform a client walkabout, and generate radio parameters for the selected APs. See Using the Assisted Site Survey Wizard.

Note Your login determines whether you can use this option.

Prerequisites

Before you can create a new RM assisted configuration task, you must have already:

Caution Clicking on any subtab (for example, Radio Monitoring or Client Walkabout) before you have saved your entries in the Jobs window will cause the window to reset and you will lose all the information you entered.

1. Naming the Configuration Task

Procedure

Step 1 Click Name.

The screen refreshes so you can enter information about the new task. You'll see the name you entered in the Task Name field.

3. Assigning Constraints and Goals

After selecting the devices for the assisted configuration task, you need to specify the constraints and goals of the task.

Procedure

Step 1 Determine whether you want to apply the constraints to all APs that you selected in Step 2 or if you want to apply the constraints to individual APs that you selected in Step 2.

Step 2 If you selected to apply the constraints to individual APs, a list box appears in which you can select the AP on which to apply the constraints. Click on the AP name in the list box.

Step 3 For the Channel Set, select either option:

•Recommended—Use the channels Radio Manager recommends in the Recommended field.

•Custom—Select the channels from the Custom selection box. You can Ctrl-click to select more than one channel from the selection box.

Step 4 Enter a number for the minimum transmit power and a number for the maximum transmit power. By default, the power level is set to the maximum value allowed on the AP or the maximum allowed by the regulatory domain. You might choose to enter a lower power setting when, for example, the default power level might affect a neighboring network.

Step 5 Enter a numerical value for the expected maximum number of clients per AP and a numerical value for the expected average number of clients per AP.

Step 6 Select whether to enable black hole mitigation. If you select this option, Radio Manager recommends a beacon interval, which is slightly altered from what the AP is configured to, for the APs. If you do not select the Black Hole Mitigation option, Radio Manager displays the beacon interval the AP is currently configured to.

4. Calculating Parameters

After you assign the constraints and goals, the next step is for Radio Manager to calculate the parameters. In this step, you will see a progress bar that indicates the progress Radio Manager is making in its calculations.

Note Depending on the number of APs selected for the job and how much data was collected during Client Walkabout, the calculating parameters step could take a while to complete.

5. Viewing the Calculated Results

After Radio Manager calculates the parameters for the assisted configuration job, it displays the calculation results. The calculation results specify the following information:

Field

Description

Name

Name of the AP

Transmit Power

Recommended transmit power for this AP

Channel

Recommended channel for the AP

Beacon Interval

Recommended beacon interval for the AP. If you did not select the Enable Black Hole Mitigation option, this column displays the value the AP is currently configured to. (See 3. Assigning Constraints and Goals for more information.)

Estimated Maximum Throughput

The estimated maximum megabytes per second that the AP can process

6. Scheduling the Assisted Configuration

After you have viewed the calculation results of the assisted configuration task (see 4. Calculating Parameters for more information) and want to apply these changes, you need to determine when to apply configuration changes.

Step 3 To run the assisted configuration task at a later time, under Run Later, select a Month, Day, Year to run the configuration task. You must also specify the start time by selecting the hour and minute to start the job.

7. Finishing the Task

Before selecting this option, you must name the assisted configuration task, select the devices, enter constraints and goals, and schedule the assisted configuration task.

Procedure

Step 1 Click Finish in the left pane.

The Done form appears indicating that the job has completed or it has been scheduled (if you scheduled it to run later).

Managing RM Measurements

Use the Manage RM Measurements tab to delete previously-collected radio location measurements, including links and path loss data. You might need to delete radio location data, for example:

•When APs have been added, deleted, or physically moved.

Note If you run a new AP radio scan, the radio location information for the selected APs is deleted automatically.

•If the number of walkabout locations is slowing down the RM Assisted Configuration. You can use the Location Manager's RM Assisted Wizard (see Using the Assisted Site Survey Wizard), to view the walkabout results, including each AP and the number of walkabout locations that can hear that AP.

Procedure

Step 1 Select Radio Manager > Manage RM Measurements.

Step 2 Choose the radio location measurements to be deleted:

•Delete Radio Measurements—Deletes the AP radio locations collected during AP radio scans and radio monitoring.